Darkest before the Dawn
by GirlWhoLoved
Summary: It's pouring down and Hermione has no idea where to go now that Ron kicked her and her daughter out. This is the story of how it has come to this and which role a certain God of Mischief plays in that chaos. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Prologue

**Now, this is the prologue for my new fanfic. This will be Hermione/Loki because I've always wanted to write a fanfiction about them. Don't know why, I just want to. So... this is all perfectly planned out in my head, I just don't have the time to write it all down and somehow... it doesn't want to be written down I think sometimes. It's really difficult, I don't even know. What I want to tell you with that is that I'm not sure how often I will update this. Anyway, the characters might seem a bit OOC in some places, I'm not sure, but if that's the case, just wait for the story to continue, it will all be explained. A lot has happened. Reviews are, as always, welcome.**

~...~

_The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;_

_Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;_

_Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood._

_For nothing now can every come to any good._

_W. H. Auden, Twelve Songs_

~...~

A lot of things in Hermione's life had gone different than originally planned. Some of them were good, some of them were less good. Sometimes she wanted to start her life all over again, or at least from the point when she had boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

She had the thought again on this day in late September while she was walking down the streets of Godric's Hollow in the pouring rain, pressing her daughter Maura to her chest. The girl wasn't even a year old and Hermione would have never thought Ron would just kick her and her daughter out when he'd find out the truth. Yes, it hadn't been right not to tell him, she had wanted to tell him, she really had, but then she had never had the courage do to so. She knew the Weasley temper all too well.

It was slowly becoming dark, she was freezing cold but had no idea where to go. She knew Ron well enough to know that he had already told Molly. Or maybe he was with Lavender. Or Molly had found out another way, after all they had been invited to dinner in the Burrow. By now they should have been there. And if Molly knew, the whole family knew. So none of the Weasleys were an option, even though she thought George or Ginny might have taken her in for a while. But she didn't want to get George into trouble. And Ginny was her best friend, yes, and she probably wouldn't care if her mother was angry, but there was also Harry. She could not ask him to take her in after Ron had accused her of sleeping with Harry.

It had started with a harmless enough walk that morning when it hadn't been bucketing down. It was quite warm and the birds were chirping- quite an idyllic day, like from a novel. Hermione was in charge of the buggy while Ron was making funny noises to make Maura laugh in which he succeeded. Her emerald green eyes glittered with mirth.

And old woman stopped next to the buggy smiling at the young family. "What a beautiful child!" She said, looking at the little Maura, who looked back curiously, obviously being fascinated with the woman's golden necklace that shone in the sunlight. "It's always nice to see young couples adopting children." Oblivious to both of the young people freezing and the colour draining from Hermione's face, she talked to the child. "I don't know why your mother gave you away, sweetie, such beautiful green eyes and then your jet black hair. You'll be a heartbreaker, honey. The poor boys, the poor boys," she said chuckling. "You remind me so much of the couple that lived here about 25 years ago. The woman had green eyes, not unlike your daughter's and the man had almost the same black hair. Died in a fire destroying their house, very tragic indeed." Hermione could feel the panic rising. Ron had wondered out loud quite often why his daughter had green eyes and black hair, because neither his wife nor he himself had. The woman had probably just given Ron the missing piece. He had never thought of Harry, but now that she had described Lily and James Potter, Hermione could practically hear the clicking.

"Yes, she is beautiful, isn't she?" Hermione said, her voice quivering. She looked over at the big church clock and mocked a cry of surprise. "Oh my, so late already? Excuse us, but we have to go, our guests will arrive soon! Come on, Ron." She smiled at Ron, looking at him for the first time since the old woman had said something about the adoption. He tried to look as calm as possible in front of the woman, but Hermione knew him well enough to know that he was boiling with anger.

"Goodbye!" the woman said, waving at them while they were walking away. Hermione waved back, forcing a smile on her face. "Goodbye!"

The walk back to their house was spent in frosty silence, Hermione dreading coming home. She knew Ron was not going to hurt her physically, but when he was angry he said many things he didn't mean, and even though she knew that, it always hurt. But she had this feeling that it would be worse than ever this time.

Ron had already opened his mouth, but Hermione held up her hand and said, "Let me bring Maura upstairs before you say anything." She took her daughter out of the buggy and brought her upstairs. After the walk she was tired and Hermione was especially thankful for that today. Gently she put Maura in her cot and pulled her blanket over her small body. The small girl was already fast asleep.

"I love you, sweetie. Wish me luck," she whispered and pressed a kiss to Maura's forehead. Knowing Ron's anger would only get worse the longer she waited, she left the room and closed the door. After a moment of thought, Hermione put a silencing charm on the door so no shouting would wake her daughter but she would be able to hear her if she cried. Slowly she walked down the stairs and entered the living room where Ron was pacing. When she entered, he looked up and stopped.

"I knew something was strange all the time! The colour of her eyes and of her hair. There was something in the back of my mind, it just clicked when the woman talked about Harry's parents." He looked at her expectantly, his voice vibrating with anger, but not rising yet. "She's Harry's, isn't she?"

She didn't answer, just shook her head silently, trying to supress the tears that threatened to spill over.

"I'M NOT AS STUPID AS YOU THINK I AM! BLOODY HELL, HERMIONE, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU SLEPT AROUND AND YOU ALWAYS GOING ON ABOUT HOW GINNY IS YOUR BEST FRIEND AND THEN YOU HAVE AN AFFAIR WITH HER HUSBAND! YOU DISGUST ME!" He shouted, making Hermione let out a sob.

"She's not Harry's, please, Ron, I know I should have told you, but I just-"

"SO MAURA REALLY ISN'T MINE? WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME? OH WAIT I KNOW! YOU NEEDED ME TO PAY YOUR BILLS, DIDN'T YOU? HARRY HAS FAR MORE MONEY, I THINK HE CAN VERY WELL PAY FOR HIS DAUGHTER!"

"Ron, just listen, I wanted to tell you, but I knew how you would react, look at you now! And she is not Harry's daughter for heaven's sake, you don't even know the father!" That was a bit of a lie since he had met Maura's father and they had immediately disliked each other. Hermione didn't think it would be good to mention it.

"OH SO YOU FUCK WITH A STRANGER? GOOD TO KNOW, YOU LITTLE SLUT!"

There was a loud slapping noise when Hermione slapped him hard. She glared at him. "Don't you ever call me a slut again. Don't think I don't know about Lavender. I know you meet at hers on a regular basis just to shag. Everyone knows and do you know what looks they give me? Do you? Well everyone but your family knows! Maybe they're just deaf on that ear!" Hermione hissed dangerously.

"Lavender and I are something else entirely!"

"Oh and how exactly is that something else, Ronald?"

"Because we… Oh for fuck's sake if I'm so terrible just leave already! THAT WOULD BE BETTER ANYWAY, LEAVE ME ALONE! PACK YOUR THINGS AND TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER WITH YOU, I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" Ron ran out of the room, apparently leaving the house. "I HOPE YOU ARE GONE BY THE TIME I RETURN!" And with a loud bang the door closed behind the angry man.

Hermione trembled and she let herself drop to the floor and cried until she couldn't breathe through her nose anymore, her eyes were burning and probably red and puffy and her head was aching, feeling close to exploding.

She had messed up again, had hurt someone she loved. She did love Ron, not as passionately and unconditionally as she loved Maura's father, but she loved him. She knew it probably had been selfish to marry Ron in the first place. She had wanted someone to show her she was loved, to make her forget her heartache. And Ron had been the right one, at least she had thought so when she had agreed to marry him. She had hoped she would be able to love Ron as much as she loved Maura's father, maybe after some time. But she couldn't forget him and when he returned, she realised that she could never love someone as much as him, not even when she was given a hundred years. And when he had disappeared again, it was worse than ever and Ron gave her the comfort she needed, even though he didn't know what had happened to make his wife so unhappy. And Hermione was too selfish to leave Ron.

This time she had to, though. He had thrown her out and she didn't want to risk him taking everything back and asking her to stay. Nonetheless she was shocked that he readily threw out the woman he claimed to love and the daughter he had thought was his for more than a year now. She looked out of the window. It was pouring down. She sighed, rubbing her head. He probably was at Lavender's again and even though it hurt she knew that she was not much better.

She got to her feet, determined to do the right thing this one time. She climbed the creaking stairs, entering their bedroom. She walked straight to the wardrobe on the left side of the room opposite the large bed and opened the massive doors. "Accio handbag," Hermione murmured, her wand pointed at the inside of the wardrobe. Her handbag flew straight into her hand. It was the old handbag in which she had carried everything they had needed while they had been chasing the horcruxes all those years ago. She had barely been seventeen and until the present day it still surprised her how they had managed to get the job done without one of the three being killed in the process. They'd been close to it many times; Harry had in fact been killed but had somehow managed to survive the killing curse another time.

But now she didn't have time to think about old times, she needed to pack her things. She shrank all of her clothes and stuffed them into the bag, followed by Maura's clothing. After that it was time for most of Maura's toys, her favourite ones at least and a few books for Hermione. Hermione took a bit money, just in case and food and something to drink.

When she had everything she needed in record time, she remembered she probably had to tell Ginny and Harry. In the end Ron would appear on their doorstep, telling them one of his half-truths. She didn't want Ginny to distrust Harry because of Ron.

_Dear Ginny, dear Harry, _

_Maura and I'll be fine, don't worry. Ron kicked us out, he found out the truth about Maura. I'll explain this to you some day, but not now. Anyway, she isn't Ron's daughter, but somebody else's. Ginny, I think you know who it is, you met him, black hair and green eyes. Tell Harry about him. Because of Maura's eyes and hair he thinks she is yours, Harry, but that's not true, I just want to say that before Ron comes running and tells you some of his half-truths. I should have told you, and especially Ron, and I am sorry. Like I said, I'll explain as soon as I can. Until then, don't worry about Maura and me. _

_Lots of love, _

_Hermione_

That would do. She opened the window, lightly whistled and Pigwidgeon came flying. He was old by now, but he was very reliable. Hermione quickly fixed the piece of paper on his leg and told him to fly to Harry and Ginny's. Pig flew away, not seeming to care about the rain.

Then Hermione walked upstairs again and into Maura's room. She was still fast asleep and Hermione didn't like the thought of waking her but she had to. Hermione kissed her daughter on the forehead again. "Sweetie, wake up, we have to go somewhere," she murmured. Maura slowly opened her eyes, looking at her mother sleepily. Hermione smiled at her and picked her up. "Come on, Maura, we'll eat something and then we'll go, alright?" In her first months Maura had cried with hardly any pause but by now she seldom cried which relieved Hermione a lot. She carried Maura downstairs into the kitchen, while talking to her about trivial stuff. She opened a small jar with Maura's favourite porridge and put her into her chair. Then she took out a spoon and fed her. Another thing she was glad about, was, that Maura hardly played with her food, she just ate it. When she had finished eating, Hermione washed the spoon and threw away the now empty jar. Then she picked up her daughter and, having arrived in the hallway, put on her jacket. Then Hermione took her own jacket and her handbag and walked out of the door, leaving the house she had shared with Ron. She left the keys on the chest of drawers beneath the mirror. Not that she would need the keys to enter the house, she could just use a spell, but it was a sign that she did not intend to come back.

Outside it was cold. It was stormy and she was getting wet. She could have used a spell, but she needed this now. Hermione also knew that Maura would be fine, thanks to her genes. Coldness didn't matter to her. When she had turned blue the first time though, Hermione had been very scared until she remembered who Maura's father was. Nonetheless Hermione tried to keep her as warm as she could.

Where should she go? She walked on and on without an idea, she just needed to move. It was slowly becoming dark, she was freezing cold but had no idea where to go. She knew Ron well enough to know that he had already told Molly. Or maybe he was still with Lavender. Or Molly had found out another way, after all they had been invited to dinner in the Burrow. By now they should have been there. And if Molly knew, the whole family knew. So none of the Weasleys were an option, even though she thought George or Ginny might have taken her in for a while. But she didn't want to get George into trouble. And Ginny was her best friend, yes, and she probably wouldn't care if her mother was angry, but there was also Harry. She could not ask him to take her in after Ron had accused her of sleeping with Harry. It wasn't true what Ron had said, but she didn't want to risk anything. She didn't want to raise any suspicion, even if it wasn't true at all. She hoped that Harry and Ginny wouldn't worry too much.

She leaned against the wall of the cemetery of the graveyard where she and Harry had found his parents' grave all those years ago on Christmas. And then Bathilda Bagshot had come, Nagini in her body. Hermione shuddered.

"You're lucky to live in those safe times, Maura," she whispered. "Now we just need your Dad to come back and everything will be fine."

While she leaned there and stared into the darkness, she suddenly knew where they could try it. Hermione took a step away from the wall, turned on the spot, Maura pressed firmly against her, and apparated into Hogsmeade. Nobody was outside, but that wasn't very surprising. Nobody in their right mind would go out when it was pouring down like this. Hermione looked at the little girl in her arms. Maura had, much to her mother's surprise, fallen asleep. She admired the ability of falling asleep anywhere and at any time. She hoped Maura would keep that ability. It was precious.

Then she started walking towards a new house in Hogsmeade, built a few years ago. It had a big garden with all sorts of curious plants. Hermione smiled. The couple living in this house complemented each other perfectly. Next to the door stood a lantern with a small candle, flickering bravely despite the rain.

Hermione shifted Maura's weight onto her left hand and knocked on the door after hesitating for a moment. At first it was completely silent inside the house, then she could hear footsteps and two voices, growing louder when their owners approached the door.

The door was opened and Luna looked at her in surprise, Neville standing behind his wife. "Hermione, what are you doing here? What happened? You look terrible!" Luna still had the same dreamy voice and the same blunt way she had had back in school.

Hermione smiled tiredly. "Ron kicked Maura and me out, respectively I left him. I… wanted to ask if we could sleep here for one night, if that's not too much trouble. If it is, tell me, and I'll find somewhere else."

"No, Hermione, it's fine, come in. You'll just catch a cold if you haven't already. I'm sure Neville can make you a cup of some herbal tea so you won't get ill." Luna stepped aside, Neville did the same. Hermione, dripping wet, stepped into the cosily warm house. Luna shut the door behind her back and said, "Now, come here, you must be freezing cold in those wet clothes." Then she took out her wand and, with a small flick of her wand, dried Maura and Hermione up. Then Hermione took off her and Maura's jackets and directed them onto the hanger with her own wand. Neville put an arm around Hermione's shoulders and softly pushed her into the direction of the living room. "Will you tell us what happened?"

"I will, don't worry. I guess you'll be the first ones to hear the whole story." She smiled sadly while Luna and Neville shared a concerned glance.

In the living room Hermione sat down on an armchair, Maura on her lap. Luna sat opposite her, on a couch, while Neville was shortly rummaging around the kitchen, returning five minutes later with a pot of steaming tea, three cups and a plate with cookies, interrupting his wife, who was talking softly to Maura, who giggled. Neville sat down next to Luna.

"Now, Hermione. What happened?" Neville asked. Luna, too, looked at her expectantly.

Hermione sighed and rubbed her eyes shortly. "I think I should start at the very beginning. I warn you, it's going to be a long story."

"It's fine," Luna said. "I like long stories."

"Okay…"

~...~

**Now, thank you for reading and I hope you liked it! Also, sorry, I know there wasn't much Loki in this chapter, actually he was just mentioned, but... yeah, he'll be there in the next chapter, promise! **


	2. Chapter 1

**First of all, thanks so much for the reviews and the faves and follows! They mean a lot to me! I'd never have thought you'd all like it so much to be honest. Anyway, I'm glad you do. Now, here is the first chapter, or the second. Depends on how you count.**

~...~

It was the August a year after Voldemort had been defeated. Hermione had finished her seventh year in Hogwarts, together with Ginny and Luna. Now the brightest witch her age and war heroine was at The Burrow. Fleur and Charlie, Ron, Harry and Ginny, Percy, and even Bill were there. George was there, too, but just physically. He still hadn't recovered from Fred's death. He stared into space most of the time and didn't say much. As soon as somebody said anything that reminded him in the slightest of his dead brother, he got up wordlessly and left. The first time it had happened, Hermione wanted to go after him, but Molly had held her back. "Leave him alone. He wants to be alone to cry. He still isn't well. We all miss Fred, but George's the worst," the woman had said softly. Hermione had nodded.

One day Ron turned up and asked her if she wanted to take a walk with him. She was translating the edition of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" and was rather surprised when Ron wanted to take a walk. In all those years she knew him, he had never wanted to take a walk. But there was always a first time she guessed so she agreed.

A few minutes later she still didn't know what Ron was up to. He was definitely nervous, she couldn't tell why though. He was talking about trivial stuff like the weather, which he seldom did.

"It's been a nice day, isn't it?" he asked.

"Uh, yes, quite nice. Ron, seriously, what are we doing here? You didn't just want to take a walk, did you?" She looked at Ron who looked away quickly.

Then he shook his head. Even though he didn't face her, she saw how he blushed. When he didn't say more, she sighed and followed him, taking his hand in hers. He cast her a quick glance, smiled and looked away again. They walked like this for a while, leaving The Burrow behind them, until suddenly Ron stopped when they reached a hilltop from which you had a breath-taking view over the scenery.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ron asked after a few more moments they spent in silence, just looking at the landscape surrounding them.

"Yes, it really is. I like this place." Hermione turned to Ron, smiled and gave him a peck on the mouth. Ron blushed again, then he rummaged around in one of his pockets. A moment later he took out a casket. When Ron dropped down on one knee in front of Hermione, and opened the casket to reveal a small, silver ring with a pearl on it, the young witch breathed a "Oh my God."

Ron smiled nervously and asked, "Hermione Jean Granger, do you want to marry me?"

Hermione put a shaking hand over her mouth. Her mind was racing. She didn't know if she wanted to marry Ron. She didn't even know if he was the right one. She had always thought it would feel… different. She loved Ron, yes, but more as a brother. She knew that now, now, that he proposed to her. She felt how her eyes filled with tears, a moment later already streaming down her face.

"Ron… I… I'm so sorry, I… I need to think," she said, before she turned around and ran away, back to The Burrow. For a moment she thought about apparating, but then again there would be a good chance for her to splinter in her current state.

When she finally reached the Weasley's home, she ran upstairs to her room, ignoring the worried exclamations of the others. When she was in her room, she threw everything she could get her hands on in her trunk, all the while crying. Running away probably wasn't the best idea, but she couldn't stay here, not when she needed to sort out her feelings. Although she was fairly sure what she was feeling. Her love for Ron wasn't as strong as Fleur and Bill's or Harry and Ginny's. It was just a friendship after all. She quickly scribbled a note on a piece of parchment she found, saying that she'd return; she needed time to think though.

She took her trunk and apparated behind the house where she had grown up. She always felt a pang of guilt when she came here. The house looked exactly the same as five years ago, but her parents were missing. The first thing she had done after the war had ended was looking for her parents. But she couldn't find them. She had followed every trace she could find and had found someone who had been friends with them after weeks of searching. The woman, Halle, had been in her mid-thirties. She had told Hermione about the tragedy that had happened about three months prior. Hermione's mother had been bitten by a highly poisonous spider. They hadn't made it to the hospital in time and Mrs Granger, or Mrs Wilkins as Halle knew her, had died. Mr Granger, devastated, had left Australia, but where he had gone to Halle didn't know. She had said she was worried about him because he hadn't been very well when he had left. Hermione hadn't had any clue where she could start looking, so she had had to return home.

She walked around the house to the front door, took out the key she still had and unlocked the door. When she entered the house it still smelled the same it had when she had been here the last time. It also looked the same apart from the fact that she had added herself to the pictures where she belonged onto again. She often wondered if she had done the right thing about her parents. This way at least one of them had died, if she hadn't changed their memory though, they could have died both. Sighing she locked the door and let her trunk levitate upstairs in her old room. Then she slumped in front of the TV in the living room and turned it on, watching some pointless reality shows. But after a time Hermione couldn't take the annoying voice of the mock-excited hostess so she turned the TV off again.

She had calmed down a bit, but the thoughts were still racing through her head. She knew her rushed departure must have hurt Ron, but she needed to be alone to think about this. She didn't want any of the involved parties to influence her decision. She needed to know if what she was feeling for Ron was friendship, real love or something in between. And she needed to know if she wanted to get married this early. She wasn't even 20 yet. She hadn't seen much of the world. And she wanted to enjoy her life alone. For the past 9 years she had almost constantly spent her days with Ron, Harry, Ginny or anyone else. She had barely had time for herself or to get to know someone outside Hogwarts.

But she had to think through everything before she made a decision. All of these thoughts and more were fighting in her head who was more important and made Hermione almost dizzy, but in any case she got a headache. Groaning she got up again and decided that she would need something to eat and drink. And today she wanted to do it the Muggle way so she had something to do.

And that is how it came that Hermione walked down the street into the direction where she remembered the supermarket was her mother had always taken her with her to, a big basket in her hand. She made it out of her house and past her neighbour's house until someone called her one of her childhood "nicknames".

"Hey, is it you, Bugs Bunny?" Hermione froze. How she hated this name. She forced a smile on her face before she turned around to look into the face of a girl her age with blonde hair and big, baby-blue eyes. Sabrina, whose hobby had consisted of being mean to Hermione.

"Hello Sabrina. Do you still live here with your parents?" Hermione smiled sweetly.

"Yes, I do, what about you? I saw you coming from your parents' house."

"Yeah, I temporarily live there, I have to think about some things. And strictly speaking I don't live with my parents since they decided to move to Australia two years ago."

"Ah yes, I remember. It was in summer, right? It was a terrible summer, I would have gone somewhere sunny as well if I could have. It was as if there was something bad about to come. Many people died that year."

Hermione tried her best not to roll her eyes and succeeded, which almost surprised her. Sabrina hadn't changed a bit. Well, she didn't insult Hermione as much as before, but she still liked to hear herself talking.

"Yes, indeed. Excuse me, but I have to go, I just came here today and I still need to buy groceries."

Sabrina smiled at her and Hermione wondered whom the blonde wanted to fool; anyone would have seen how false it was. "Aw, what a pity! It was nice seeing you again, though. Goodbye!"

Hermione walked away as quickly as possible without running. One hour and a half later she was back at home at last, the fridge was working again and the food was put away. After that she was so tired that she thought about just ordering a pizza, but then she could have just gone shopping tomorrow and she didn't want to have the feeling she had been shopping in vain. So she quickly took out a few eggs and the other ingredients and made herself scrambled eggs. That was quick plus she loved scrambled eggs. When she was finished, a quick flick of her wand made the dishes move over the sink and scrub themselves clean. Hermione left the kitchen and climbed the stairs, the thing she needed most now was her warm, cosy bed. It was an early night and usually she want to bed later, but when her head touched the pillow this time, she fell asleep immediately.

~...~

The next day after breakfast, Hermione decided to visit one of her favourite places here, a place where she had spent hours with a book or just crying because Sabrina and her friends had been mean again.

So she wandered in an old red t-shirt and jeans over the meadows behind her house. It was blissfully quiet, apart from a few birds that were singing. Slowly she reached her actual destination, the forest. It was like she remembered it: Quiet and cool. Without any problem she found the path she had used the last time about 5 years ago. Absentmindedly she ran her hands over the leaves of the bushes on both sides of the path. Well, it was more a trail. After another fifteen minutes of walking she arrived at the clearing. It wasn't something spectacular, just a small clearing the sun reached with its warmth. When she was 9 she had tried to plant tulips here but they had died after two weeks. Smiling she sat down, her back against a tree. She still loved this place as much as she had all these years ago when she had first discovered it. Some things seemed to stay the same even though some changed dramatically. She thought of Ron. The guilt nagged at her. She shouldn't have run away, she should have told him how she felt, that she was scared, that she wanted time alone. But no, she had run away from this out of all things. Voldemort chasing her best friends and everyone she knew: She stood up and fought. Ron asking her to marry him: She ran away. Hermione moaned and buried her face in her hands.

Suddenly it seemed to become darker. She lifted her head from her hands and looked up at the sky to make sure it wasn't just her imagination. Dark clouds built on the sky, but only directly above the clearing. She frowned and got up. Certainly dark clouds shouldn't start building out of nowhere and directly above her as well out of all places. She backed off into the forest so she was hidden by the shadows of the trees and took out her wand. Some sort of whirlwind built, the centre in the middle of the clearing. Then, after a few seconds, it was gone again, the dark clouds disappeared again and there stood a man, dressed in green and gold armour. He looked around curiously, apparently seeing Hermione despite the shadows. He smiled. "Mortal, what are you doing in the shadows, directing this piece of wood at me?"

The witch frowned and stepped out on the clearing. "Who are you? And did you just call me 'mortal'?"

The man, who looked rather good how Hermione had to admit, took a step towards her and indicated a small bow when he said, "My name is Loki Odinson and I am the God of Mischief. I came from Asgard because the Allfather wanted both me and my brother to take a look at some of the other realms. And yes, I did call you 'mortal'. May I ask what your name is, my Lady?"

Hermione just stared at him for a few moments. He couldn't be a god, it was just impossible. People had invented gods to explain things they couldn't explain themselves. But here he was, a man who claimed to be Loki, a Norse god, who wasn't exactly known for his kindness. But then again… according to the books she had read he was a trickster, so he did both good and bad things, very much like humans.

Suddenly she became aware of the fact again that Loki was still waiting for an answer. She blushed and said, "I'm Hermione Granger. I… um. It's a pleasure to meet you." How did you greet a god? Awkwardly she held out her hand. Maybe you just shook it like humans did. Loki took a step towards her and took her hand. His incredibly green eyes sparkled with amusement when he pressed his lips softly onto her hand and said, "The pleasure's all mine, Lady Hermione." The young witch blushed even more. She wondered a bit about the fact that she just trusted the man. He could be anyone, probably even an insane wizard or a Death Eater who wanted to kill her.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Hermione asked, "So… do you have anything in particular to do here?"

"No, I do not. I only wanted to take a look at this realm. Is there so much forest everywhere?"

Hermione smiled. "No, no, there isn't. You just landed in a forest. But if you want to I can show you the… well, village would be the best word for it."

"It would be a pleasure. May I ask you a question first, Lady Hermione?"

She nodded and said, "Of course, um, Lord Loki." She had read more books than most people her age and had paid attention in every lesson, but she still didn't have any idea how to address a god.

He smiled charmingly. "'Loki' will do. Now, my question. I was told humans did not possess magical powers but I can sense magic all around you, a great amount of it at that. Are you able to perform magic?"

He could sense her magic? That was admittedly rather impressive and probably a small evidence that he was either the most powerful wizard she had ever met or indeed a god. Or both.

"I am. Usually humans do not… possess magical powers, but there are a few who do and I am one of them. We conceal it from the other humans because if they knew, they'd want us to solve their problems or they'd run tests on us. So we keep it a secret. But… how does magic feel?"

He seemed to think for a moment before he answered. "It is usually warm even though everyone's magic feels different. Yours is… very much alive. It constantly moves and rearranges itself but it also feels… powerful if you can say so. It is hard to describe. Do tell me, can you not feel it?"

She shook her head. "I can't. You said you were a god so maybe that's why."

Loki looked thoughtful, staring off into space for a few seconds, then he shook his head shortly and looked at Hermione again with one of his disarming smiles. "You said you could show me your village. Shall we go, sorceress?" He held out his hand.

Still a bit unsure, she took his cool hand and he put it onto his arm. When he looked at her questioningly and didn't move, she realised he probably waited for her to tell him where to go. She pointed to the right. "We have to go there, that's where the village is. But… um. You'll probably be stared at since your clothes aren't very usual here." In her head she added, that he probably would be stared at anyway. He was easily the most handsome man she had ever met. And the one with the best manners.

They started walking back into the forest. "I do not mind being stared at and if it should become uncomfortable for me, I will tell the Midgardians so. Do not worry about me, Lady Hermione."

"Alright then. And could you please just call me 'Hermione'? I'm not a Lady actually, although it's flattering you think so."

He chuckled. "I shall call you Hermione then. It is a pretty name, I like it." She blushed. Why did she blush so much and, most of all, why did she feel so safe with him even though she knew which role he played in the Norse mythology? But who said it was right what people had written about Loki? Maybe he wasn't so bad after all, who knew?

And with that she decided for the first time in her life to completely ignore what books said. She would take a risk even though it wasn't necessary. Maybe she wouldn't have done it if she had known how much pain it would cause her. But then again, if she had known how much happiness she would feel, too, she would have done exactly the same thing again.

After several minutes they had spent mostly in silence, they reached her house.

"That's where I live," she said, gesturing to the house.

"It is nice. Who else lives there?"

"It's just me now and my cat Crookshanks. My… parents used to live her as well, but…" She bit her lip. She wouldn't cry in front of him, she just wouldn't.

He took the hand that still rested on his arm and squeezed it sympathetically. "Did they pass away?"

She nodded, gulping. "Mum… died. And Dad has… disappeared."

"My deepest condolences, Hermione. Losing your parents is a horrible and painful affair, I imagine."

She just nodded and then smiled. They both knew the smile was faked, Hermione, because she was the one forcing it onto her face, and Loki, because he had faked enough smiles to recognise one when he saw it. "Let's go, you said you wanted to see the village." She almost dragged him past her house and Loki decided to play along and pretend Hermione had not nearly cried.

He looked curiously at the houses on each side of the road, at the perfect suburban gardens and the humans that sat in their gardens or eyed them curiously as they walked by.

And then they met the one person Hermione wished she'd never meet again. It had been bad enough to meet the little beast yesterday. And now she also had two of her friends with her.

"Hey rabbit face, did you get yourself a boyfriend? Looks a bit like a freak if you ask me," Sabrina said, her two dumb friends giggling. Sabrina had not seen Loki's face because usually she was friendly with handsome boys and men since she wanted them to like her. But Loki had been looking at a garden to their left so Sabrina had not seen his face, just his clothes. But then the god turned to look at her, his face eerily calm.

"Excuse me, did you just call Hermione here 'rabbit face' and me a freak?" He took a step towards the now very pale girl, the contempt practically dripping from his eyes. "It is certainly not wise to call a god and his companion that, you disgusting creature. I will not kill you since the Allfather would not be too pleased by it, but I will have revenge." And with a wave of his hand Sabrina was surrounded by green smoke, her shrieking friends stumbling backwards, only to be surrounded by green smoke as well. Loki's eyes glittered mischievously. When the green smoke disappeared, the three girls had ears like a rabbit and Sabrina additionally had bright green hair. Loki chuckled and Hermione grinned. Sabrina took a streak of her hair into her hand and stared at it in horror. The other two were a bit too occupied with their ears to notice anything else.

"You monster," Sabrina shrieked, turned around and ran away, her two friends following quickly. At her words Loki's smile wavered, but maybe Hermione was just imagining things.

"Thank you, Loki."

"You are welcome."

"Will it stay like this?" Hermione asked.

"The green hair will stay forever and there will be no way to dye it or anything like that, but the ears will disappear within two months." He grinned.

Hermione couldn't help but feel gleeful even though her glee also made her feel bad. They stood there for a few minutes in silence until Hermione broke it. "How long are you going to stay?" She looked at him, chocolate brown eyes meeting emerald green ones.

"I do not know yet. As long as I want to."

"Where… where are you going to sleep?"

He shrugged. "I do not know that either. But the little forest where I landed seemed to be all right to me. I have slept at places far more uncomfortable when Thor, his friends and me were out to fight."

In the short period of time Hermione had known Loki, she had grown to like him. She was also curious to learn more about his magic and about the god. Maybe he could teach her to perform wandless magic like he had done. And her house was far too big and too quiet for her liking.

"I have a few spare rooms in my house. It's far too big for me alone so if you'd like you could live with me until you have decided what to do next." She bit her lip softly, curious about how he would answer.

He looked at her with slight surprise. It was not that he didn't appreciate her offer; it was just unexpected. To be honest, he had not wanted too badly to spend the night in the forest and he had started to like Hermione. He was not sure why since she was just a mortal.

"It would be a pleasure, Hermione. Are you certain my presence would not bother you?"

"Really, it's fine, I wouldn't have asked if I'd be bothered by you," She answered laughing.

He smiled. "Well, then I do think it is fine."

~...~

**Thank you for reading and I'd love to her what you think! A bit of rather pointless stuff: the title is from a song by Florence + The Machine, who I absolutely adore. It's from "Shake it out", to be precise. Then there's the fact that I can't write without music, it just doesn't work. But the two most important songs for this story are "Teach me how to be loved" by Rebecca Ferguson and the cover version of "Rolling in the deep" by Tyler Ward and Sam Tsui (although I love the original as well). But yeah, I planned the story while listening to those two songs. Just in case you wanted to know. Sorry, I really do talk too much sometimes. Bye for now! xx**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello again! Thank you so much for your kind reviews and for the follows and favourites. They're very welcome. I love you all, you know? So, I hope you like this chapter, I really don't know what to say today... wow, that's a first...**

~...~

Loki looked at everything in the house that was now Hermione's rather curiously. When he saw a few of the pictures of Hermione as a small child he smiled. She was very cute.

Hermione, who had made a tea for both of them, came back with a tray with the two steaming cups. The god turned around to her, still smiling. "These are very accurate portraits."

She grinned. "They're not really portraits. We call them photos. We have some kind of… machine to take them and all you have to do is push a button and then you have the photo. I'll show it to you later if you want. I've made the tea. You've really never drunk tea?" When she had asked him if he wanted tea and he had answered that he hadn't even an idea what it was, she had been more than surprised. Why didn't gods have tea? She didn't quite understand that.

"I have not, I did not lie. I am very curious as to why you mortals seem to adore it this much." He walked over to the sofa next to where she was sitting in the armchair, the tray on the small table in front of it. He sat down and reached out for a cup. While he was taking his first sip, she said, "You can put in there anything you like. Of course you can drink it pure, but you can also put milk or sugar or lemon in there, whatever you'd like. You want to try anything? Oh and do you like the tea?" Why was she rambling? She didn't usually ramble like that.

He put down the cup again and smiled at her. "It is delicious as it is, but thank you. May I ask you how you take your tea?"

"Of course. Well, I put sugar into it, it's not that spectacular I'm afraid," she said and chuckled.

After both of them drinking their tea for a while in a comfortable silence, Loki asked, "This is a quite big house for a young woman like you to live alone in. I do not know the customs of the Midgardians, but we would live with friends or family in a house as big as this." His gaze wandered a bit around the room until it found Hermione again and stayed there. When she looked sad, he quickly said, "Did I say something wrong? I did not intend to pain you, Hermione."

She shook her head and forced a smile on her face. He couldn't know. "It's not your fault. It's all a bit… difficult right now. We… maybe I should tell you something about me and my past and… everything. I guess it's going to be a rather long story, but… would you like to hear it anyway?" She trusted him, if he didn't even know tea it was quite unlikely that he would be a Death Eater. Also, a Death Eater would have killed her right away and not bewitched Sabrina's hair because she was mean to her. Hell, he wouldn't even have been able to perform such advanced wandless magic. And he had fallen from the sky and he had said he could sense her magic.

Loki nodded. "I would like to hear it, if you do would like to tell me."

She took another sip of her tea and started. "Well, like I already told you there are humans who can perform magic, we're called witches and wizards here. And there are schools where you can learn all you need. My school is called Hogwarts. Anyway, a long time ago there was a man who became a bad wizard, his name was Tom Riddle, but he changed it into Lord Voldemort. He was a dark wizard and he killed and destroyed and all he wanted was immortality and power. Maybe even world domination. Probably. This went on for some time until he wanted to kill a boy because of a prophecy. The prophecy was about him being killed by a boy born in the end of July and stuff. Anyway, he wanted to kill the boy, Harry, but after his parents had died for him, he couldn't. The spell backfired and Voldemort himself was killed instead of the boy. Harry grew up and I met him and Ron on the train to Hogwarts. After the two saved me from a troll, we became best friends. This went on through our time through school, well, six years of it. It turned out Voldemort wasn't dead and he rose to power again and when we actually should return to our seventh year at Hogwarts that was taken over by his followers, the Death Eaters, we looked for Horcruxes. These are parts of somebody's soul that the person has split from the rest of his or her soul and saved in an object. So this person is hard to kill because there's always a part of his or her soul left. You can destroy Horcruxes though and that's what we did, Harry, Ron and I. In the end there was a battle in Hogwarts and we won, though we lost many good people. Harry managed to kill Voldemort and he, Ron and I became war heroes of sorts. After Hogwarts was rebuilt, I returned and made my seventh year there. Ron and I… we were a couple. And yesterday he asked me to marry him and I ran away because I don't know if I'm ready for that. That's the rough summary of what happened. And now that I spent almost my entire life with my friends I think I need time for me alone or at least to make new friends."

Loki looked intrigued. "That is quite a story for a girl as young as you, Hermione. It is interesting nonetheless. I can understand your desire for being alone or making new friends very well. I also assume you came here to think about this Ron's proposal."

"Yeah, I did. I don't even know what I want, I mean, I like Ron, but… what if he's not the right one?" She bit her lip and stared at her half-empty cup. Well, more than half-empty actually.

"Do excuse me for being blunt but if you have doubts whether he is the right one or not he probably is not. That is what I have heard." He took another sip of his tea. Apparently he really liked it and hadn't just said it to be polite.

She sighed and hid her face in her hands. "That's what I've been thinking about as well, but I'm not sure if I'd ever find somebody again who would love me that way." When she realised what she had just said, it suddenly felt a bit awkward but she couldn't take the words back. So Hermione settled for blushing which was hopefully not too visible with her face in her hands.

"I am certain you would, Hermione. As far as I can tell yet, you are a lovely person."

She blushed even more and Loki laughed softly. So you could see it through her hands. Damn.

~...~

The rest of the day they spent talking and Hermione explained to him some of their "Midgardian devices" as he called it. In return, Loki told her about Asgard, though he did not reveal much of himself. Hermione didn't care much about that, she hoped he would trust her enough someday to tell her more about him. She would not admit it but she was dying to know more about the strange and fascinating man. Later that day she lay in her bed and thought about this utterly strange day. She had come here to be alone, to think about things, especially Ron, but now… now there was a beautiful and kind god who lived in her house, currently sleeping two rooms away from hers. She groaned quietly. Why did nothing ever go according to plan? This time it wasn't even a particularly difficult plan. On the one hand she felt as if she was betraying someone by letting him stay here. Who knew, maybe he was dangerous? Maybe he was a very disturbed man who thought he was a god. Oh great, and she had told him her story. But then again, as she had reminded herself so many times by now, there was so much evidence that he really was different. His magic, his arrival here, he knowing she could do magic…. No she would not go through every single piece of evidence again. The only thing she could probably do was to trust him until he gave her a reason not to do so anymore. She needed to learn to trust people again. The war had not been good for her. On the other hand though, she wanted him to stay here. She wanted to know more about him and she would love to learn how to perform wandless magic. Probably she was just curious about the man. Very curious to be exact. Also, she couldn't just throw him out. He didn't know anyone here and though he probably wouldn't have difficulties with finding another person to take him in, he was very… different. And muggles didn't like things to be different. Furthermore, she didn't know if it was a good idea to throw out a god out of all people. What was she supposed to do?

She pulled her cushion over her head. Why couldn't someone else deal with her decision? That would be a lot easier. All her thinking had made her thirsty, so she got up, threw the cushion back onto her bed and made her way down to the kitchen, trying to be quiet since Loki probably already slept.

But no, he didn't. He sat on the cold floor in front of the window, next to him a candle that lit the room only slightly. Where did he get the candle? She shook her head and cleared her throat to make him aware of her standing in the door that led to the living room that led to the kitchen. He turned his head shortly, then he looked out of the window again. "Good evening, Hermione. I thought you were already asleep."

"I couldn't sleep, there was too much to think about and now I'm thirsty. But why can't you sleep?"

There was a rather long silence and just when Hermione thought it was about time to walk into the kitchen and get her glass of water, he said, "It seems I miss Asgard."

"Oh," was all Hermione said and then she walked over to him and sat down next to him. She noticed the book she had given him in his lap. Jane Eyre. "I'm sorry to hear that."

He glanced at her. "It is fine. I simply have to get used to this realm. It is all so… different."

"I don't know since I don't know Asgard, but from what you told me, I'm sure it's… a bit frightening."

He nodded slowly and continued staring out of the window at the moon and the stars. In the strange light he looked even paler than he had in the daylight she noticed.

They sat there in comfortable silence and Hermione could feel her racing mind calming down and herself getting tired at last. Silently she got up. Loki looked at her questioningly.

"Sorry, I'm tired. Would you mind me going to sleep now?"

He shook his head. "Of course not, Hermione. Sleep well and thank you for your company. I enjoyed it." He smiled at her, she smiled back.

"You're welcome and thanks. You sleep well too!" Loki turned to the window again and Hermione, having forgotten her thirst, walked out of the room and up the stairs, wondering if Loki would sleep at all tonight. Not that it was any of her business.

~...~

When she came down the stairs the next day, he was curled up on the floor, sound asleep. The candle was burnt down almost completely and the book lay next to him. She wondered if he had read it. It was quite a cute sight actually. He looked peaceful, his mouth was slightly open and a few black streaks of his hair hung in his face, not gelled back neatly anymore. Frankly, she liked his hair better that way.

She couldn't stop herself from staring at him. He was beautiful and every doubt she had ever had about him being a god was washed away now. There was no way someone could look that way and not be a god. Or maybe she was exaggerating but he was really handsome. He looked so young, younger than he probably was. For all she knew he could be a millennium old.

As if he noticed her staring at him, he began to stir, his eyelids fluttering. Slowly he opened his incredibly green eyes and looked around in confusion. Apparently he had no idea right now where he was.

"Good morning, Loki."

His gaze found her and then something like realisation flitted across his face. He smiled, and got to his feet, stretching and yawning. "Good morning, Hermione."

They looked at each other for a moment, then Hermione said, "If you need a bathroom, it's upstairs, opposite your room. Oh and what would you like for breakfast?"

He frowned a bit when he was thinking about that. "I still do not know much about Midgardian meals so I will take whatever you take as well. I am eager to learn. Also, your suggestion of a bathroom does not sound bad. If you excuse me…" He bowed and disappeared through the door.

Hermione quietly smiled to herself. Loki definitely was the most polite man she had ever met. When she was making scrambled eggs, Loki came down the stairs and into the kitchen again. His hair was gelled back again, much to Hermione's disappointment. She had liked it the way it had been after he had woken.

"It smells most deliciously. What is it you are preparing?" He stepped closer and peered over her shoulder.

"Scrambled eggs. Don't you know it?" She turned her head to look at the god who was still staring at the yellow food in the pan. He shook his head. "I do not. But I do have a question, ever since yesterday evening. Why have you no servants to help you?"

"Nobody here has anymore, apart a few rich wizard family, though they mostly have slaves and not servants, and maybe from the queen. We have to do everything ourselves. But don't worry, it's not that difficult. I wouldn't know what to do all day if servants would do the cleaning, cooking, shopping and whatever else they do." Hermione laughed at his incredulous face. "No really, it's not a problem."

"If you say so. It is a strange world in that you live, Hermione."

She smiled softly. "Or maybe the world you're coming from is strange." Then she looked from the pan to the cupboard where the plates were in. "Um, Loki, could you give me two plates from that cupboard over there. That'd be great."

He nodded. "Of course, Hermione." Loki walked over to the cupboard, gently took two plates from there and put them down next to her. She smiled at him. "Thanks."

They ate mostly in silence. Eventually Loki broke it. "This is delicious, Hermione."

She smiled. "I am glad." After a pause she added, "What would you like to do today?"

He shrugged. "Forgive me, but I do not know. I would very much like to explore Midgard more. I would also be happy if you were to be my guide. Of course, if you should not have the time or will to do so, I will be fine on my own."

"I… I don't have anything to do actually so… well, I could take you somewhere I guess. What do you think about… London? Diagon Alley to be exact? It's like um… the shopping street of witches and wizards."

He nodded slowly and then smiled. "This sounds like a marvellous idea, Hermione. I would very much like that."

"So… what about we go there right after breakfast?"

"I do think that would be a good idea."

~...~

**Now that's it for today! I hope you liked it! I'd really love to know what you think. You're also welcome to leave suggestions, of course. Now, I have to admit that I still have some kind of writer's block, but I'll try my best to write more as soon as I can. Bye for now!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey, I'm back again with another capter! I know, this took me a while, but as I said before, this is kind of hard to write, because Loki and Hermione just won't cooperate sometimes. The last few days they did though. Let's see how long this will last. Anyway, thanks so much for the favs, follows and reviews! They mean a lot to me. Oh and maybe I should say this: Neither Hermione nor Loki belong to me. Most of what i'm writing about belongs to J. K. Rowling and Marvel. I tend to forget to say that. Now, I hope you'll like it!**

~...~

Hermione had to smile at Loki's face when he first saw Diagon Alley. She had decided to come through the Leaky Cauldron since the effect of Diagon Alley was better that way, at least in her opinion. He looked around the street in awe. It was full of wizards and witches looking at show windows and talking to each other. There were also many children that were running around, laughing. Hermione smiled, remembering clearly the days when nobody dared to enter Diagon Alley fearing one of the Death Eaters would capture or kill them. It was good to see the place so… alive again.

One of the children bumped into Loki. It was a small girl, maybe six, not much older. She had blonde hair and a bright green dress. She looked up at him fearfully but he just smiled and helped her to her feet again. She blushed and looked away, running straight to a woman who was obviously her mother and approaching them now. "Now, apologise to the man, Scarlett," she said to her daughter. Scarlett walked over to them again, never looking up. "'m sorry," she mumbled. Loki chuckled lightly. "It is quite alright, girl. Go and play again."

And she did exactly that. She turned around and ran to her friends again, throwing a shy glance in their direction every now and then. The woman walked up to them, ignoring Hermione completely. She had only eyes for Loki. So Hermione wasn't the only one who found him attractive. Not that she'd admit that out loud. The woman smiled at Loki charmingly. "I'm sorry for my daughter's behaviour, sir. Usually she has better manners. My name is Kate, by the way." She held out her hand.

Hermione wondered why she had this feeling she wanted to kill the woman. There was no way she would be jealous. No way at all. But when Loki just shook the woman's hand and not kissed it like he had kissed her hand she couldn't help but smile smugly.

"My name is Loki Odinson. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Kate giggled. "It's a pleasure to meet you too. Are you from around here? I don't think your name sounds familiar."

Okay, enough flirting for Hermione's taste. She didn't want that cow following them around everywhere. "He's from Norway and now would you please excuse us? We have some shopping to do."

The woman looked at her with a look that could kill but as soon as she saw who Hermione was, she smiled, clearly embarrassed. "Miss Granger, I didn't know… I didn't think I'd ever meet you. It's such an honour to meet you!"

Hermione sighed and smiled, faked, but a smile at least. "Don't exaggerate. I'm just… I fought like so many others did." She shrugged.

"Don't pretend it's nothing! You… you destroyed a Horcrux! And you fought alongside Harry Potter!" This woman seemed to really be a fan. Too bad she had annoyed Hermione.

"I did. But we all fought with Harry. I'm sorry, I'd really love to talk more with you, but we need to go now." She smiled again. Kate nodded hurriedly. "Of course. It was nice talking to you." Then she turned to Loki and smiled at him. "It was also nice talking to you, Loki." Loki bowed slightly and smiled which made Kate giggle and Hermione glare in turn. She took Loki's hand and almost dragged him away towards Flourish & Blotts.

When she looked at him she saw his amused expression. "What?" She snapped.

"Oh, nothing, Hermione. Only… you need not be jealous. I was never interested in Miss Kate. I was merely being polite."

This only caused Hermione to glare at him some more. "Who said I'm jealous? I'm not jealous," she snapped again and stomped off into Flourish & Blotts, a chuckling Loki following her.

After some time spent with books and Loki hiding his amusement successfully Hermione had calmed down. She purchased a few books before she looked at Loki. "Have you ever had ice cream?"

He shook his head. "No, I did not. What is it?" Instead of answering she just smiled and walked over to Florean Fortescue's and bought some ice cream for them. She handed him one cone and said, "There you go. I started with chocolate and vanilla. It's a classic." He smiled back and eyed the ice cream as if it could explode any minute. Hermione chuckled and started licking at her own.

This seemed to encourage Loki and he did the same, his eyes lighting up when he found it tasted good. "This is most delicious! We should have it in Asgard as well!" Hermione grinned. "I'm glad you like it."

They finished their ice creams, Loki looking somewhat wistful when he ate the last bit, and then Hermione started walking again. "Come on, I still need something from the apothecary."

All in all both of them, god and mortal, enjoyed their day. Hermione showed him around Diagon Alley and Loki admired it. He couldn't deny that it had something… magical. And yes, he knew that this was not the best way to phrase it but he couldn't think of another adjective. On their way back Loki looked at Hermione with the best puppy dog eyes he could muster and asked if he could have another cone of ice cream. Laughing she said yes and bought him more which he started eating with a content expression.

She let him finish his ice cream and then they went back home. Well, apparated. Loki looked less green than the first time she had done this but he still mumbled something about how teleporting was so much more comfortable.

~...~

Later that day, when they had eaten, Hermione sat opposite Loki, not quite sure what to do now. She traced the patterns on the table cloth with her finger, thinking about what to do now. When she looked up, she saw Loki smiling in mild amusement and she blushed when she realised he had been watching her the whole time. She cleared her throat awkwardly, quickly putting her hands in her lap. He looked at her, the slightly distant look in his eyes gone. "Yes?"

"Um… did you like our trip to Diagon Alley?" It was the best she could think of right now.

He nodded, still smiling. "It was most enjoyable. It is not something we have in Asgard. Or maybe I just did not find it yet." He chuckled gently. "I liked the ice cream. And the book store… Everything about it actually."

She smiled. "I'm glad. Now, what would you like to do this evening?"

"I hope I do not disappoint you when I say I think I would enjoy just staying here and reading in this most interesting book you gave me. It is not the kind of book I usually read but I enjoy it nonetheless."

She nodded. "Very good. I didn't really know what you'd like. However, staying here sounds good to me. I'm working on a translation of a book of some fairy tales for children anyway."

He looked at her in surprise. "You do? That is a nice deed. I will leave you to your work then and settle on the couch. I do not mean to bother you, but would you happen to have some red wine?" He smiled.

"You don't bother me, really. Of course I have some red wine. There's a bottle in the fridge, so if you don't mind sharing… I'd like a glass or two as well."

"Of course I do not," he assured her, while she got up and took the bottle out of the fridge and opened it. Then she took two glasses from the cupboard and poured each of them a glass.

Then she put the glass down in front of Loki. "Feel free to move wherever you want with it. And if you want more, help yourself." She smiled and put her own glass down on the table as well. "I'll be back in a minute, just need to get my stuff." And with that she rushed off to her room, getting the Tales of Beedle the Bard, her syllable chart, a dictionary and the beginning of her translation.

Meanwhile, Loki had sipped at the wine, completely content with the young witch's choice. She had a good taste; he had to give her that. And some other things, but he had decided he wouldn't think too much about those just yet. He took the glass and sat down on the couch, putting it on the small coffee table where his book was lying already. Loki took the book and opened it where he had last stopped reading.

This was how Hermione found him. She smiled when she entered the room silently, trying not to disturb her guest. She sat down on the table, taking a sip from her own glass of red wine and continued translating. Soon she hadn't only forgotten her red wine, but also her guest, who was still occupied with his book.

When Loki's glass was empty though, he saw himself forced to put away his book and get up to fill the glass again, as Hermione had offered. When he walked past the young witch, he couldn't help but look over her shoulder curiously.

"It's emerald green, not lime green," he said softly, which caused her to jump. She'd been completely lost in her work.

"Excuse me, Hermione, I did not mean to sneak up on you and startle you," he apologised immediately.

She shook her head. "It's fine, really, I was just really concentrated on my work and I kind of forgot everything around me." She smiled sheepishly. "So what did you say again?"

"I said that the colour mentioned in the text is emerald green and not lime green."

She frowned and flipped through her dictionary again, then she looked up at him. "But my dictionary says lime green."

He chuckled softly. "Then your dictionary is wrong. This is one of the earliest languages learned, the second I believe. You can trust me with this."

Hermione bit her lip for a moment, thinking, then she crossed out the 'lime' and wrote 'emerald' over it. This was the first time she trusted a person rather than a book. She put down her quill and looked at him curiously. "So you can write runes without needing a syllable chart or a dictionary?"

He chuckled and nodded. "I can. Most of the books about magic back home in Asgard are written in runes. And since I have wanted to study magic since I was a small child, I learned the language of the magicians."

Loki went over to the fridge and took out the bottle of red wine, pouring himself another glass. "I am surprised the mortals are still able to read it," he said, turning around and sitting down on the chair opposite Hermione. "It has been a while since it has last been written here, as far as I know."

Hermione nodded. "It has been. But we're not stupid. We have our ways, you know. Now, about the books you talked about… Can I see them one day? I'd love to know more about the way witches and wizards use magic in other places."

"I would have to speak with my father, for I do not know if Midgardians are allowed to have knowledge of such progressed magic." When she looked somewhat disappointed, he added, "But if your interest was very great I could try to teach you some magic myself."

At that, Hermione's eyes lit up and she nodded quickly. "If you'd do that… That'd be great, thanks. I could teach you some more about our culture here in return." She would have done that anyway and from the way he grinned, he knew that as well, but it's the thought that counts, right?

"I would be very grateful if you did, Hermione. Give me some days so I can think about what to teach you and how to do so most importantly." She nodded quickly to that. Her excitement about the offer was undeniable. His magic had fascinated her from the moment she had first seen him use it.

He smiled one more time and then got up and sat down on the couch again, returning to his book.

Later when it was pitch black outside and Hermione could hardly keep her eyes open, she decided it was time to go to bed. Sighing she grabbed her stuff and looked over to the sofa, about the open her mouth to say good night to Loki when she noticed the god had fallen asleep. She smiled and shook her head. He could have just gone to bed if he was tired. She put her books down on the table again and took the blanket that she had draped over the arm rest of the arm chair and gently put it over him. Gosh, he looked so young and adorable when he was sleeping. Wait, what had she thought? She frowned, shaking her head and took her books again. "Good night," she whispered to the sleeping god.

When she lay in her bed at last, she couldn't sleep once again despite having been tired before. Now she was wide awake again. Hopefully this wouldn't become an unhealthy habit. She felt somehow guilty. She hadn't thought about Ron once today and thinking about Ron and her relationship had been the reason why she'd come here in the first place. She sighed. Maybe she should have just said yes to his proposal and be done with it. But then she would have never met Loki and that would be a… Wait, what? She just found him fascinating because he was a god and because he admittedly looked very good and he was polite and knew a lot about magic. She groaned and buried her face in the cushion. What was she doing?

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**What do you think? I really hope you liked it... Oh and I'll try to make the next chapters longer again. This one didn't want to become longer though. It just didn't work for me. I hope you liked it anyway.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello again! Okay, first of all thank you for all the favourites, follows and reviews, they mean very much to me! Then, sorry for making you wait so long. Sadly, I didn't have much time to write over the last month but now I have time again so I thought I'd write this at last. I hope you like it and I'll try to make updates more frequent though I'm not sure I'll succeed. Anyway, as always I don't own anything and also: I hope you like it!**

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Sadly, she hadn't magically dreamed up answers so she would have to think of them herself. She got up groaning and then cursed when she tripped over her own feet. Quickly she got dressed and ready to be seen (because really, nobody wanted to see what her hair looked like in the morning after getting up). Then she went downstairs only to find Loki still sleeping peacefully on the couch. His hair was once again slightly dishevelled but it looked cute, just like yesterday. Wait, what? Hermione sighed quietly and shook her head. She really needed to get that sorted out.

She went into the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast as quietly as possible but eventually, he woke. Still sleepy, he padded into the kitchen. "You could have woken me, Hermione," he said quietly, a hint of amusement in his voice. She turned around and smiled. "Good morning. And well, I just couldn't do it. You looked so c- peaceful." She blushed and tried to hide it by turning around with the excuse to look after the eggs she was boiling. Loki chuckled. "What did you want to say at first, Hermione?" he asked curiously. She blushed harder, hoping he wouldn't see. "Nothing, Loki, really. I wanted to say peaceful from the start."

"Excuse me, but I do not quite believe you."

Hermione sighed and turned around, huffing. "Alright, I wanted to say you looked cute, content now?" Loki's smile didn't waver, though he blushed a bit… Or it was just Hermione's imagination playing a trick on her.

"Thank you. Though I, as a god, do usually not aim for looking cute, I am quite flattered to hear this from a beautiful woman like yourself, Hermione."

At that, Hermione blushed even more and looked at her feet. Loki smiled softly. "I will go upstairs and see to it that I am a slightly more presentable god."

She nodded and he turned around, but he only came to the door before Hermione spoke again. "Here's a tip from a woman: Don't slick your hair back again. It looks even better like this," she said softly, with a smile. Then, when she realised what she'd said, she blushed once again and turned around.

Loki chuckled quietly. "I shall remember your advice, Hermione," he said before disappearing upstairs at last.

When he was gone, Hermione groaned quietly. What was happening? Was she seriously flirting with a god? He wouldn't have any interest in her whatsoever, he could have anyone, any woman and more beautiful ones at that. She needed to get herself under control again. And quickly.

Breakfast went pretty good and Hermione managed not to flirt with Loki again for which she was pretty grateful. What made her blush slightly though was that the trickster really hadn't slicked back his hair again. Nice, back curls framed his pale face and he looked even better than before which probably wouldn't help Hermione with getting herself under control again.

She was reading the Daily Prophet with Loki sneaking around behind her with flimsy excuses and looking over her shoulder to inspect the moving pictures and the text when it knocked on the door loudly and only a few moments later she could hear Ron's voice. "'Mione, are you in there? Come out, bloody hell, we're worried."

Then, Ginny's voice. "Ron, calm down." Hermione might have imagined it but she sounded a bit irritated.

She sighed and put the newspaper on the table. "That would be Ron and his sister Ginny," she explained when she got up. Loki nodded. "Ron is the man who wanted to marry you, correct?"

"Yes, he is," she answered while walking into the corridor to get the door. Another impatient knock on the door later and Hermione had opened it.

Ron immediately smiled but a moment later he frowned. "Who's that man? Since when are you living with someone else? I thought you didn't have any brothers or sisters." Hermione turned shortly to see Loki standing there, looking vaguely apologetic. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Nice to see you too, Ron," she said, sounding somewhat strained. She'd gotten so used to Loki's politeness and Ron was mostly the exact opposite. Politeness wasn't his strong side. She turned to Ginny who seemed to be pretty occupied with looking Loki up and down. "Hi Ginny. Come in you two, I'll explain."

Ron and Ginny entered. She greeted Hermione with a smile that looked somewhat mischievous when she looked from Loki to her. The brunette just blushed lightly and shook her head. Ron on the other hand glared at Loki though the god didn't look impressed. He looked back at the human, an almost bored expression on his face. Hermione bit her lip. The two would definitely not get along.

"Ron, stop giving him death glares, he's not impressed by them anyway, which I can understand pretty well," Ginny said, again this slightly irritated note in her voice. Now the glare was directed at her but she merely raised an eyebrow which made Ron huff. Hermione thought she could see Loki see suppressing a smile. He walked over the few steps to Ginny and took her hand, kissing it gently. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Loki Odinson. I heard you were a friend of Hermione's?" Ginny blushed lightly and Ron's face became red as well but because of anger. Ginny nodded anyway, ignoring her brother.

"It's nice to meet you too. And yes, I am. My name's Ginny Weasley." Loki smiled charmingly and let go of her hand gently.

"Ginny? Surely that abbreviation is not your full name?" That made her blush some more.

"Umm… no, actually I'm Ginevra."

He nodded. "Like King Arthur's queen. My father told me of this tale. I can sense you have magic? As does your brother if I am not mistaken." Ginny blinked at him in surprise and looked at Hermione with a grin. She wasn't jealous of Ginny, no, she was her best friend and she had Harry. Not that she'd been jealous yesterday. No, of course not.

"Yeah, that's true, we do have magic and I think you should get the hell out of here if you don't want to feel me using it," Ron snapped. Hermione and Ginny both let out an indignant "Ron!"

Loki merely looked at him in amusement. "Oh, I will take the risk." A green light was starting to envelop his hands. Hermione frowned. "No! Stop this, both of you. Ron, you can't throw out my guests. Loki, don't hurt him, not until I say so if he keeps misbehaving." The light around Loki's hands disappeared, Ron's frown on the other hand didn't.

"Who is he anyway? I never heard of him! And what's this shit about sensing our magic?" Ron growled, never stopping to glare at Loki.

"He's Loki. Take a book about Norse mythology and you'll know who he is!"

Ginny's eyes widened and suddenly she knew where she'd heard that name before. "You're kidding me, right? This is the God of Mischief and Lies and Chaos?" She stared at Loki who grinned and bowed. "At your service, my lady."

Ron snorted. "Yeah, right, a god. I'm not that stupid, Hermione, so stop pretending I am. Who is he really?"

Loki looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a dangerously mischievous glint in his green eyes. "What do I have to do to convince you, Mr Weasley? Shapeshift?" Suddenly a woman was standing where Loki had stood just moments ago and even Hermione could just stare. This was some really advanced magic. She didn't know of any wizard or witch who could change his or her gender. Ron could just stare as well. Loki changed back into a man. "Do I have to duplicate myself?" A second Loki appeared next to the original one and then another and another. They looked at Ron with identical smirks before the three illusions dissipated with a bit of green fog. "Is that enough for you to believe me?" He was still highly amused by the situation apparently though it was all a bit… well, almost scary. Hermione hadn't known how powerful Loki really was. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, hoped it, but really? Changing his form, probably not only in a woman, making illusions of himself? Not even Dumbledore had been able to do this.

"A-alright, you're a god," Ron said quietly, apparently rather impressed. He turned to Hermione. "I thought you wanted to think about us, and not make hotel for homeless gods out of your house."

She groaned. "This isn't… listen, Ron, I really wanted to think about us and I am as a matter of fact. But I couldn't let him sleep on the streets, could I? He doesn't exactly know anyone here. Gosh, Ron, stop being so… so jealous! I'm not in love with every man I talk to!"

After that it was silent for a moment.

"Talking to men and letting a… a handsome, disgustingly polite and powerful god live in your house."

And Ron wasn't too wrong actually. It really wasn't the same. She bit her lip.

"I… I don't plan on starting anything with him. Be realistic, Ron." She looked at Loki, sighing. "How many chances would a relationship between a god and a… a mortal like me have? None I'd think." Loki looked at her curiously but chose to keep silent. He wasn't the only one to do that though. Ginny had noticed how she'd never denied liking the god.

Ron was still too angry to notice anything like this though. Maybe he'd notice later.

"None of our plans ever worked," he spat out between gritted teeth and turned on his heel, leaving the room with long steps. So maybe he had noticed after all.

"Ron…!" Hermione called after him but then she heard the door being closed with a loud noise already and she sighed, sitting down on the sofa.

Loki was the first to speak again. "I am very sorry, Hermione. I did not intend to cause trouble."

She sighed. "I know. It's fine, he's just jealous and angry at me because I'm not doing what he wants."

"I'll try to calm him down when I'm back home," Ginny promised. "But really, is there something between you?" She looked between the two of them.

Loki shook his head. "Hermione merely lets me stay here and teaches me some things about your culture. I, in return, shall try to teach her some Old Magic," he explained. "I want to apologise if I scared any of you with this display of… power. He, and I want to apologise for saying something like that about your brother, annoyed me. I did not have myself under control there. It shall never happen again."

Hermione just shook her head, massaging her temple. She could feel a headache coming. She just hated fighting but it was hard to avoid it with Ron.

Ginny smiled at him. "It's fine, I know he's annoying. You don't have to apologise for something like that, really. Anyway, I should probably leave and save Harry. Ron's probably already whining about how bitterly unfair his life is. I'll be off now, it was nice to see you, Hermione, to get to know you, Loki." She smiled at both of them. Hermione smiled back weakly and Loki bowed in front of her. "It was a pleasure." She grinned and nodded before waving at them one last time and then leaving. Soon they could hear the door closing.

Loki sighed and ran a hand through his curly hair. "You never denied liking me," he said quietly.

It was silent after that and Loki thought he wouldn't get an answer but then Hermione spoke again.

"I didn't. It's true, I like you. But I don't know in which way. God, it's only been a few days and… I can't tell anything yet, I'm just…" She sighed and looked over at him. "It's another thing I have to think about."

He nodded slowly and sat down next to her on the sofa, but never touching her.

"I understand. I do not want to endanger your already existing relationship with Ron. I could find somewhere else to stay if that would make things easier," he said quietly, looking at the pictures of Hermione and her parents on the opposite wall.

She frowned and shook her head which he only saw from the corner of his eyes and turned his head to her. "No, Loki, you can stay. I won't throw you out just because Ron throws a fit. He'll have to deal with it. I can have friends for myself, I could even have a relationship with someone who isn't Ron if I wanted to. He can't control me. He can try but I won't let him."

"I see. Should you change your mind though, do not hesitate to tell me." Hermione nodded. "I won't," she mumbled. Ron coming here and thoroughly spoiled her mood. Now she felt guilty and more confused than ever.

Her mood didn't really improve much over the day. She couldn't stop thinking about the situation she was in. She liked Loki, she really did, but as she had already told him, she didn't know in which way… or she just didn't want to admit it to herself. But god, she just knew him for a few days, how could she tell if she liked him? She didn't believe in love at first sight, she believed in love developing slowly. Romantic books in which the heroines fell in love with the hero after seeing him for a moment only were nice to read, she had to admit that, but were they realistic? She doubted it.

And anyway, what would a god like Loki want with her? If she wasn't much mistaken, he was immortal and she… she would die. She wouldn't be more than an affair maybe and when she'd grow old and ugly he'd leave. She didn't want that. She had always imagined growing old with someone and she wanted that. Maybe having some children and a family. But would a god want that with a mortal? Not that it mattered.

Loki mostly left her alone for the rest of the day. He wasn't stupid, he had noticed her mood after Ron's visit and she'd told him she had a lot to think about. So he let her. For the rest of the day he read the book, Jane Eyre, and finished it. For a while he sat in the garden in the sun but that became boring soon enough so he went inside to take a look at the newspaper that had fascinated him earlier.

They spent their dinner mostly in silence and Hermione felt bad because Loki was her guest and she hadn't really talked much today. All because of a certain Weasley.

"Loki… I'm sorry I didn't talk much today, really. Tomorrow I'll be less…. Shaken, I promise."

Loki looked up at her and smiled at her gently. "It is quite alright, Hermione. Do not worry. I can understand very well. I had a good day nonetheless."

Hermione smiled weakly at that and nodded.

That night she found it even harder to fall asleep. The god had brought so much confusion into her life.

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**I hope you liked it! Tell me what you think!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hello! I am back again with a new chapter for you! I know, it took me ages, but I had once again a severe witer's block. Anyway, I hope it'll get better! Thanks again for all the reviews, the favorites and the follows. And also for even reading it! It means a lot and I hope you'll like it again! That's all for now! **

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The next few days Hermione was quieter than she had been. She was still thinking about the whole situation and wondered if Ron was still angry. Probably she should go and talk with all of them. Sighing she looked up at one day and looked over at Loki who hadn't once complained about her silence and her being lost in thought every so often.

"Yes?" He asked politely and looked at her with attentive green eyes.

"I think I should talk to my friends. I should go and see them, explain. And… I guess I should do that without you because… yeah, Ron will just lose it again and that wouldn't be helpful. Nothing personal, on my side anyway." She smiled weakly. "That okay?"

Loki nodded. "Of course it is. I understand very well, Hermione, do not worry about feelings being hurt, it is not necessary. I wish you luck."

She smiled. "Thanks." Loki just shook his head and stirred his cup of tea. Hermione liked to say he drank his sugar with some tea which usually made him raise an eyebrow. That, in turn, would make her laugh and then he would smile. "You are most welcome," he said softly and took the spoon out of his coffee. Suddenly it seemed too melt and reform into a silver snake that wiggled its way over Loki's hand. Hermione watched in fascination, not even protesting that he had just made her parents' silverware melt. Loki smiled softly and closed his hand. When he opened his hand again, a small bird sat there, turning its head and looking at Hermione in interest. She was grinning now and leaned over to look at the small bird more closely. After a small while Loki closed his hand again and when he opened it again, there was the same old boring spoon again. He put it down again and Hermione leaned back again.

"You have to teach me things like that," she told him with bright eyes.

"It's very advanced so we will come to those things later. It also requires a great deal of concentration though I do not doubt you have that."

Hermione blushed softly. "With what will we start then? It looked fairly easy."

Loki chuckled. "I've had millennia of practice; I do hope it looks easy." He chuckled. "And first I want you to sense the magic. This requires a lot of training but I am sure you have the will to learn."

She nodded eagerly. That she had.

Loki smiled softly when she seemed to be so excited at the thought of learning the magic that was taught in Asgard. She reminded him a bit of him when he had been young and had so very much wanted to learn magic. After a while his parents had given him what he wanted and asked the best teacher of the country to teach him magic. Soon enough it had turned out he was quite talented.

The rest of the breakfast was spent in silence again and when Hermione's cup was empty, she couldn't pretend she had to do something before she went to see Harry and Ron and the others. It wasn't that she didn't like them anymore; it was just going to be a difficult topic and she had hoped she had come to the right decision about this.

"I think I should go now," she mumbled. Loki, who had stared at his own cup and the small flowers on it, looked up. "Maybe you should," he agreed.

"What if they don't understand?"

"They are your friends. I am certain they will understand."

Hermione sighed. He was right. And now the usual about how they weren't real friends if they didn't understand would come, as always in situations like this. It was true; she knew that, it was only that she had heard this so many times she couldn't even count them anymore.

But Loki didn't say it. Instead he wished her good luck and smiled at her. And Hermione was grateful for that.

Then she was ready to go and really nervous about it. They were just her friends; they wouldn't hurt her after all or hate her. She said goodbye to Loki and then apparated right in front of The Burrow. Hesitantly she walked to do the door and knocked. It was swiftly opened by Molly Weasley. "Hermione… where have you been? And why is Ron this angry?"

Hermione sighed. It was probably not that far-fetched to think it had something to do with her that Ron was upset. She had disappeared after all and Hermione didn't even know if Molly knew about the proposal.

"I was at home. And I met someone who I am not in love with-" Well, probably, maybe, she didn't know. "- and he had nowhere to go so I took him in. Ron doesn't seem to get along too well with him."

Molly had crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked sceptical. "Do I know this man?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. I don't think so. But he doesn't have anything bad in mind and he won't hurt me if that's what you're worried about."

Molly sighed. "Alright… I hope I get to meet this young man though. Why are you here?" She stepped aside so Hermione could enter and closed the door behind her. Molly Weasley had become somewhat protective of Hermione ever since her mother had died and her father disappeared. Of course she wasn't as protective of her as she was of her children and Harry but she was more protective than she had been a few years ago.

"I want to talk about this with Harry, Ron and Ginny," she explained. Molly just nodded. "In Ron's room."

"Alright," she said and went up the stairs. At last she knocked on Ron's door. "Yeah?" It was Ron's voice.

Slowly she opened the door and glanced inside almost shyly. "Hey." Ron, Harry and Ginny were sitting on the floor, having apparently talked about something, and looked up at her. Ginny was the first to smile, then Harry did the same. Ron was just frowning and pouting.

She entered the room and closed the door behind her, leaning against it.

"What brings you here?" Harry asked. "Missed us?" He grinned and Hermione couldn't help herself, so did she.

"Actually, I did. I… need to talk to you."

"Well, go ahead," Ginny told her with a small smile.

She sighed, not sure where to start.

"I don't want to get married yet. I want to see a bit of the world, I want to have fun. I grew up in a war after all. Ron, I need to more time to think. And about Loki… we're not in a relationship. I don't know what I feel for him. I wish I did, believe me. But for now he lives with me because he has nowhere else to go and he is at least a friend if not more. You can… also try some things out. Nobody keeps you from that. But for now, I want to see a bit of the world and just live without hiding."

Ron looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Hermione sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "No. Yes. I don't know. I say I want to try out new things. Maybe… I just want a break maybe. You're free to do whatever you want in this break and… if you don't want me back after this break, that's your decision and I will respect it."

The room was very silent and Ginny and Harry nodded slowly. "We will get to visit you though, right?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. "Sure, I you want to." She smiled. Harry smiled back. "Alright then. I think you should do this. You are right after all. We really didn't really _live_ much."

Ron was strangely quiet but after some moments of really awkward silence, he spoke again at last. "I guess I can't stop you. But during this break I will do what I want."

Hermione nodded, not sure what Ron had in mind. "Of course. That's what I will do as well. As long as it isn't against the law."

It was silent again and Hermione sighed. "Maybe I should go again. I'll write a letter or visit or you can visit," she suggested quietly.

Harry looked at Ron for a moment and then nodded slowly. "Maybe that would be the best. It was good to see you again though."

Ginny, Harry and Hermione smiled at each other while Ron stared out of a window and didn't show any signs of having even so much as listened. She shrugged and waved at the other two before leaving again. Mrs Weasley was nowhere to be seen when she went downstairs again so she just shrugged and went outside to apparate again. When she arrived in the living room again, she was really relieved she had finally done this. The apparating had made a rather loud noise though, as always, and she heard a thud right after she had appeared.

When she saw Loki picking up a book from the floor again that he had dropped when he had been startled by the loud noise, she laughed quietly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

He looked up at her, softly blushing. "I really hope that for you," he mumbled which only made Hermione laugh more and Loki pout slightly. He didn't like being laughed at and Hermione who had started to realise as much, tried her best to stop laughing which she soon managed. "Sorry, Loki. I neither meant to startle you nor did I mean to laugh at you." She was sincere and Loki knew that and nodded. "Yes, I know," he said with a sigh. "How was talking to your friends?"

She shrugged. "I can remember better talks with them to be honest." She smiled weakly. "It was okay, but Ron doesn't seem to be too happy about my decision to take a break from all this. But he'll have to accept it." She shrugged.

Loki nodded. "Do you feel better now that you have talked to them?"

She was quiet for a moment, thinking about the question. "I think I am actually… I feel like I am… free to do what I want now."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you weren't before?" She just shrugged.

"I don't know actually. Maybe I wasn't. Now though I feel… lighter." She grinned and it was somewhat infectious as Loki started smiling as well.

"While you were away, I prepared my first lesson for you, Hermione," he said after a few moments.

Hermione's eyes lit up. "You have? When can we start?"

Loki laughed quietly. She sounded a bit like an excited child and not like a grown woman. But there was nothing wrong with that after all.

"Whenever you want. If you want to start now that's fine."

She nodded. "Then let's start, I can't wait."

Loki got up and stood behind her. "Is it alright if I touch you?" He asked quietly. "I need to guide you at first."

She turned around, her cheeks slightly red, and nodded. "Yes, that's okay," she said softly. Loki nodded and stepped a bit closer, so her back touched his chest. It made Hermione's stomach flutter.

"Everything has magic. Every object you see in this room, the table, your books, your quill, your flowers, the mirror… You could say magic is everywhere in the air. Humans also have magic, some more than others though. The ones with a lot of magic like you can learn how to control it," he explained to her.

"How does magic feel?" she asked curiously.

"Everyone's magic feels different. The mirror's magic feels… cold and it doesn't have that much. That's why it's more difficult to transform a dog in something else than for example this mirror. The more magic it has, the more difficult it is."

Hermione nodded. "I see… that makes sense."

Loki smiled. "Now, to the actual thing. I will try to teach you how to feel magic. It's not always easy, but you will learn. Close your eyes and give me your hands please."

She obediently did what he asked her to do.

"At first, it is easier to think of nothing else so try to clear your mind."

She tried to ban all of her thought of Ron and Harry and Ginny, of the fact that Loki stood so close and other things out of her mind and after a small struggle it actually worked.

"Ready," she whispered.

"I will try to show you how my magic feels for a start." She nodded at that and after a few moments she felt a tingling sensation where Loki's hands touched her. It was warm and pleasant and she had to think of peppermint, old books and parchment and something she couldn't quite place. Maybe she could ask him later.

"Do you feel something?" He asked softly.

"Yes… and I also had to think of some things."

"That's natural when you feel the magic of something that is alive. Trees, humans, cats… feeling their magic is always associated with smells or pictures. A book for example… you usually just feel a tingling sensation and maybe it feels warm or cold but more than that is very rare."

Hermione nodded and when Loki let go of her hands, she turned around slowly, suddenly realising how close they were. Her heart sped up a bit and she looked directly into Loki's eyes. They were so green… but there were small brown dots in the green. They were so close and Hermione thought they would kiss now but then a car engine broke the silence and they both looked at the window to see a bright yellow car pass by.

And the moment was gone.

Loki was the first to speak again. "Do you want to try to feel something else's magic?"

Hermione cleared her throat. "Yes, that… would be a good exercise for me I think."

The rest of the afternoon Hermione spent with trying to sense the magic of the things around her with Loki's help. In the end she was exhausted but she had managed to feel some of the things without Loki's help and that was enough for today to make her feel content.

After dinner they watched some TV, a comedy, and both of them enjoyed it greatly.

That night Hermione didn't sleep very well again since she couldn't stop thinking of a certain pair of green eyes and how close she had been to Loki.

~...~

**Every mistakes in this are mine. I don't have a beta after all. If you find a mistake, you can just go ahead and tell me, that'd be great! Also, please tell me if you liked it!**


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